Action Comics has had a rough go of it since the New 52 reboot. Writer Grant Morrison took this staple series of DC and injected it with a great deal of “WTF.” Long time readers became confused, the poorly-handled story lines didn’t attract new readers – in short, the whole thing became a mess. This, combined with the lackluster response to the Superman book, put DC in a bad place. The next attempt at a Superman movie franchise is due this summer. Lost interest in the two major components of Superman’s comic book life would be a disaster.
To rectify the situation, DC brought in Batman writer Scott Snyder and artist extraordinaire Jim Lee to create Superman Unchained, a third Superman book. Why DC didn’t just replace the Action Comics team with Snyder and Lee is unclear. Instead, the mighty company brought in writer Andy Diggle and artist Tony Daniel to try and stop the hemorrhaging left by Grant Morrison. Action Comics #19 is supposed to the a rebirth of the title, a new direction to help mend broken fences between fans and the iconic hero.
Clark Kent and Lois Lane are in Qurac, the Middle East, covering an uprising. Over drinks, the two celebrate Lane’s impressive (and largely unbelievable) story coup. There’s a tender moment between the two before Clark rushes out to meet with a contact. In reality, he’s transforming into Superman to stop an onslaught of weapons being sold to the Qurac regime attempting to crush the rebellion. Naturally these weapons are gigantic ships that look like space bugs, because all illegal arms need an alien theme. Superman makes short work of these weapons but never realizes the true game.
Apparently, this was a multibillion-dollar ruse. During the alien machines/Superman battle, Lex Luthor implanted a bunch of, well, somethings that allow him to control Superman on a genetic level. Two weeks later, the Big Blue Boy Scout crashes while flying due to a sudden and intense pain. Action Comics #19 ends with Superman beginning to turn into some kind of monster. The problems here are instantly apparent.
First, the issue has no flow. It stumbles from scene to scene with no connection other than easy exposition. The most troubling part is Lex Luthor, who is poorly written here. For example, Andy Diggle has a scene between Luthor and a psychiatrist that is unnecessary other than to establish that Luthor is “cold blooded, ruthless and cruel.” Was anybody having a problem with that idea? Did we need this uninspired scene to remind us what a douche Luthor is? Why did he use these gigantic alien looking ships to trick Superman? Nothing Luthor does here gels with the idea of him being a lunatic genius.
I’m also not sure of the new story arc. Not the idea of Superman becoming a monster, but the entire idea of Luthor controlling him genetically with no new information. Why hadn’t he tried this before? How did he figure out Superman’s DNA? Diggle would have been better served to have some new component introduced that allowed Luthor this ability. There’s also the idea of another of Lex Luthor’s overreaching diabolical plots. For a brand new writer, Diggle is already stepping into a quagmire of repetition.
Having not seen the art of Action Comics 1-18, I’m not sure how good or bad it was. I do know this; Tony Daniel’s work on issue #19 is awesome. He knows how to command the pencil. When Daniels works, he uses everything on a page. His lines are strong, his character faces well executed. The action is high impact and the detail work near perfect. Even the enemy ships, which felt awfully over the top, look wonderful. From panel placement to the simplest details, Daniels is seriously on point here.
Batt handles the inks, and does a solid job. Every one of Daniel’s pencils carry the weight of a nicely handled inking job. Heavy during conflict and action, lighter during the interpersonal character relations, Batt helps solidify what Daniels has laid down. Tomeu Morey’s colors are solid, especially with Superman’s costume, which seems to stand out against everything else. Nothing Morey is doing is exceptional, but they do add a bit of polish and dimension to the pencils.
Andy Diggle and Tony Daniel will only be on Action Comics for three or four issues. I don’t know if that’s because DC felt the Diggle/Daniel route was lackluster or if it became lackluster because DC’s editing team can’t stop screwing with every story. Whatever the reason, Action Comics #19 is not the high-octane reboot I was hoping for.
(5 Art, 2.5 Story)
